‘Herping’ is just like birding, but for reptiles and amphibians = herpetiles or herps (as in herpetology). These are the adventures of one Philly herper as he prowls the region (occasionally beyond) looking for critters to photograph and marvel at. [In case you were wondering, the word does come from the same word as herpes: ‘herpein,’ a Greek word meaning to creep.]

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I didn’t see any turtles at all, neither swimming nor in my trap, but I did have a nice time flipping rocks on the banks of a creek up there.

This is frequently a productive way to herp, albeit for relatively common species. I usually find frogs and toads, and often some salamanders, particularly two-lines (Eurycea bislineata) and long-tails (Eurycea longicaudata). I sometimes find northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon), and once, many years ago in Ohio I found a queen snake (Regina septemvittata).

This time the frogs were pickerel frogs (Rana palustris)...

...and the toads were Fowlers (Bufo fowleri).

The white belly is one way to tell them apart from the American toad (Bufo americanus).The recently transformed toadlets were everywhere:

About Me

I can be reached at billysbrown[at]gmail[dot]com and I usually post on forums as billysbrown.

I am an amateur herper. I have no special training in biology (my degrees are in Social Studies and Public Policy), just a passion (obsession?) for reptiles and amphibians and a love of the outdoors.
I am a recovering gardener.

The Locality Data Disclaimer

As a rule I don’t give away locations of sensitive or commonly-poached species to people I don’t know well and whose discretion I don’t yet trust, so please don’t contact me to ask me for locations unless you’re looking for common species such as garter snakes, Fowlers toads, etc.

Odds are my information is safe with you, but unfortunately there are too many unscrupulous collectors out there, and there are yet more well-meaning people who are careless with locality data.

I encourage you to be at least as secretive as I am. If you have a great spotted turtle pond or a know about a rattlesnake den, don’t tell anyone, including me, until you’re sure you can trust the person. I do encourage you to report such finds to state herp atlas projects (see the sidebar for links). However I am happy to give general tips on herping strategy and technique, and if you're really jonesing for some brown snakes, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction.